September 25th 2023.
Former Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon has suggested that Mauricio Pochettino's gruelling training demands may be contributing to Chelsea's abundance of injuries and lacklustre start to the Premier League season.
The West Londoners only have one win from their first six matches and have only scored five goals. This was made clear on Sunday when they were defeated 1-0 by Aston Villa at home, with Ollie Watkins netting the game's only goal shortly after Malo Gusto had been sent off.
The Blues' injury crisis was branded "an absolute mess" by Trevoh Chalobah's personal trainer in leaked messages last week. When asked about these messages, Lennon suggested that Pochettino's training regime, which is known to include double and even triple sessions, could be playing a role in Chelsea's struggles.
"No, definitely not," he said. "And I think that's the last thing you need. When you're not getting results on the pitch, and then things are coming out from inside the dressing room, it makes it all a little bit of a circus."
Lennon went on to say that Chelsea are in for a tough season, and that the pressure of what the fans expect is high. With the Blues only four points above the relegation zone, it's no surprise that Pochettino has a difficult task ahead of him.
He continued: "We've talked about changing so many players and so many managers, and a lot of these players are really young, they've not played in the league and they've come for big, big price tags. The pressure of what Chelsea fans expect, they're not going to accept this. They're on five points in six games, no goals in three games. For Chelsea? It's unheard of."
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
